Part One 1336-1337/One Summary

Katherine by Anya Seton is the story of Katherine Roet. The story covers her life from the year 1366 through 1396, her forced marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford, and her enduring love affair with John of Gaunt, the powerful Duke of Lancaster. Katherine's mother died in childbirth and her father, shortly after being knighted, was killed in battle. While her older sister Philippa Roet was assigned to be a courtier in service to the queen, young Katherine was sent by the queen to an obscure Catholic convent to be raised by nuns. As a teenager, Katherine chooses, eagerly, to leave the convent and join her sister at court, unaware of the harshness and complications that she would encounter outside of the protective convent walls. While Philippa will marry the now-famous Geoffrey Chaucer, having no dowry, Katherine is coerced into marrying the rough and...